Display module including electro-static discharge protection circuit

ABSTRACT

A display module including a plurality of pixels is provided. The display module according to an embodiment includes a plurality of inorganic light emitting elements constituting the plurality of pixels, a plurality of pixel circuits provided for each of the plurality of inorganic light emitting elements and providing a driving current corresponding to an applied grayscale data voltage to each of the plurality of inorganic light emitting elements, and an ESD (Electro Static Discharge) protection circuit arranged in at least one of the plurality of pixel circuits.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/263,911, filed on Jan. 31, 2019, which claims priority under 35U.S.C. § 119 from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2018-0035126, filedon Mar. 27, 2018, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, and KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2019-0006337, filed on Jan. 17, 2019, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

Devices and methods consistent with what is disclosed herein relate to adisplay module, and more particularly, to a bezel-less display module.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional display panel comprises an electro-static discharge (ESD)protection circuit to prevent damage to an element provided in a pixelcircuit from electro-static discharge (ESD). A semiconductor chipforming the pixel circuit is integrated. Therefore, the ESD protectioncircuit is provided in order to avoid damage to the pixel circuit causedby static electricity input through a pad of the semiconductor chip.

The ESD protection circuit may include a resistance, a diode, a bipolarjunction transistor (BJT), and the like. The ESD protection circuit maybe disposed in a bezel area of a display panel to protect a pixelcircuit from static electricity.

However, it has been practically difficult to realize a bezel-lessdisplay panel due to the ESD protection circuit in a bezel area of thedisplay panel. Such bezel may be a block to miniaturization of thedisplay panel, and at the time of embodying a display panel in which aplurality of display modules are connected in a tile type, visibilitymay be deteriorated due to the presence of the bezel.

Therefore, there is a need for a technique for realizing a completelybezel-less display panel.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the embodiments relates to providing a completelybezel-less display panel capable of ESD protection.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided adisplay module including a plurality of inorganic light emittingelements constituting the plurality of pixels, a plurality of pixelcircuits provided for each of the plurality of inorganic light emittingelements and providing a driving current corresponding to an appliedgrayscale data voltage to each of the plurality of inorganic lightemitting elements, and an ESD (Electro Static Discharge) protectioncircuit arranged in at least one of the plurality of pixel circuits.

Each of the plurality of inorganic light emitting elements may bemounted on a corresponding pixel circuit to be electrically connected toa corresponding pixel circuit among the plurality of pixel circuitsformed on a substrate.

The plurality of pixel circuits may form a Thin Film Transistor (TFT)layer on the substrate, wherein the ESD protection circuit is includedin the TFT layer.

The plurality of pixels may be arranged in an entire area of thesubstrate at predetermined intervals.

The display module may be one display module included in a display panelin which the plurality of display modules are consecutively arranged,wherein intervals between pixels arranged in an edge area adjacent to afirst display module and a second display module adjacent to the firstdisplay module among the plurality of display modules are identical tothe predetermined intervals.

The ESD protection circuit may be arranged in a unit of a pixel circuitof a predetermined number.

The ESD protection circuit may be arranged in a pixel circuit disposedin an edge area of the display module.

The ESD protection circuit may be connected to at least one of a scanline, a data line, a power supply line, and a ground line of at leastone of the plurality of pixel circuits.

The ESD protection circuit may be an ESD protection circuit of firsttype including two thin film transistors (TFTs) for bypassing staticelectricity flowing through the data line or the power supply line tothe ground line.

The ESD protection circuit may be an ESD protection circuit of secondtype including a transistor that allows the scan line, the data line,the power supply line, and the ground line to have equal potentials by acapacitive coupling effect.

The scan line, the data line, and the ground line may be connected to anESD protection circuit of first type including two thin film transistors(TFTs) for bypassing static electricity flowing through the data line tothe ground line, wherein the power supply line is connected to an ESDprotection circuit of second type including a transistor that allows thescan line, the data line, the power supply line, and the ground line tohave equal potentials by a capacitive coupling effect. According to theabove-described various exemplary embodiments, it is possible to realizea bezel-less display panel without a bezel area while protecting adisplay panel from ESD.

In accordance with an aspect of the disclosure, a display moduleincludes a plurality of inorganic light emitting elements constituting aplurality of pixels; a plurality of pixel circuits comprising a pixelcircuit provided for each respective inorganic light emitting elementfrom among the plurality of inorganic light emitting elements, theplurality of pixel circuits providing a driving current corresponding toan applied grayscale data voltage to each respective inorganic lightemitting element from among the plurality of inorganic light emittingelements; and an electro-static discharge (ESD) protection circuitarranged in at least one pixel circuit from among the plurality of pixelcircuits.

Each inorganic light emitting element from among the plurality ofinorganic light emitting elements may be mounted on and electricallyconnected to a corresponding pixel circuit from among the plurality ofpixel circuits, the plurality of pixel circuits being formed on asubstrate.

The plurality of pixel circuits may form a thin film transistor (TFT)layer on the substrate, and the TFT layer may include the ESD protectioncircuit.

The plurality of pixel circuits may be arranged in an entire area of thesubstrate at predetermined intervals.

The display module may be one display module from among a plurality ofdisplay modules that are consecutively arranged in a display panel, andintervals between pixels arranged in an edge area between a firstdisplay module and a second display module adjacent to the first displaymodule among the plurality of display modules may be identical to thepredetermined intervals.

The ESD protection circuit may correspond to a predetermined number ofpixel circuits from among the plurality of pixel circuits.

The ESD protection circuit may be arranged in a pixel circuit from amongthe plurality of pixel circuits, the pixel circuit being disposed in anedge area of the display module.

The ESD protection circuit may be connected to at least one from among ascan line, a data line, a power supply line, and a ground line of atleast one of the plurality of pixel circuits.

The ESD protection circuit may include an ESD protection circuit of afirst type that includes two thin film transistors (TFTs) configured tobypass static electricity flowing through the data line or the powersupply line to the ground line.

The ESD protection circuit may include an ESD protection circuit of asecond type that includes a transistor configured to cause the scanline, the data line, the power supply line, and the ground line to haveequal potentials by a capacitive coupling effect.

The scan line, the data line, and the ground line may be connected to anESD protection circuit of a first type that includes two thin filmtransistors (TFTs) configured to bypass static electricity flowingthrough the data line to the ground line, and the power supply line maybe connected to an ESD protection circuit of a second type that includesa transistor configured to cause the scan line, the data line, the powersupply line, and the ground line to have equal potentials by acapacitive coupling effect.

According to the above-described various exemplary embodiments, it ispossible to protect a display panel from ESD while implementing abezeless display panel which does not include a bezel region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a view to explain a problem of an ESD protection circuit of aconventional display panel;

FIG. 1B is a view to explain a problem of an ESD protection circuit of aconventional display panel;

FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view of a conventional display panel;

FIG. 2A is a schematic block diagram illustrating configuration of adisplay module according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2B is a schematic block diagram illustrating configuration of adisplay module in inorganic LED method according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2C is a view illustrating a pixel structure of a display moduleaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 2D is a cross-sectional view illustrating a display moduleaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 2E is an exemplary view illustrating a display panel including aplurality of display modules in FIG. 2D according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2F is a cross-sectional view illustrating a display moduleaccording to another embodiment;

FIG. 2G is an exemplary view illustrating a display panel including aplurality of display modules in FIG. 2F according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2H is an exemplary view illustrating a display panel in which aplurality of modules are connected according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2I is an exemplary view illustrating an ESD protection circuitaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a view to explain an ESD protection circuit of a display panelaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a view to explain an ESD protection circuit of a display panelaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a view to explain an ESD protection circuit of a display panelaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating configuration of an ESDprotection unit of a display panel according to an embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a view to explain an ESD protection circuit of a display panelaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a view to explain an ESD protection circuit of a display panelaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating configuration of a displayapparatus including a display panel according to an embodiment; and

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a bezel-less display panel according toan embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

All the terms used in this specification including technical andscientific terms have the same meanings as would be generally understoodby those skilled in the related art. However, the meanings of theseterms may vary depending on the intentions of the person skilled in theart, legal or technical interpretation, and the emergence of newtechnologies. In addition, some terms are arbitrarily selected by theapplicant. These terms may be construed in the meaning defined hereinand, unless otherwise specified, may be construed on the basis of theentire contents of this specification and common technical knowledge inthe art.

Embodiments disclosed below may be implemented in various forms and thescope of the disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments. Inaddition, all changes or modifications derived from the meaning andscope of the claims and their equivalents should be construed as beingincluded within the scope of the disclosure. In the followingdescription, the configuration which is publicly known but irrelevant tothe gist of the disclosure may be omitted.

The terms such as “first,” “second,” and so on may be used to describe avariety of elements, but the elements should not be limited by theseterms. The terms are used simply to distinguish one element from otherelements. The use of such ordinal numbers should not be construed aslimiting the meaning of the term. For example, the components associatedwith such an ordinal number should not be limited in the order of use,placement order, or the like. If necessary, each ordinal number may beused interchangeably.

The singular expression also includes the plural meaning as long as itdoes not have a different meaning in context. In this specification,terms such as ‘include’ and ‘have/has’ should be construed asdesignating that there are such features, numbers, operations, elements,components or a combination thereof in the specification, not to excludethe existence or possibility of adding one or more of other features,numbers, operations, elements, components or a combination thereof.

In an embodiment, ‘a module’, ‘a unit’, or ‘a part’ perform at least onefunction or operation, and may be realized as hardware, such as aprocessor or integrated circuit, software that is executed by aprocessor, or a combination thereof. In addition, a plurality of‘modules’, a plurality of ‘units’, or a plurality of ‘parts’ may beintegrated into at least one module or chip and may be realized as atleast one processor except for ‘modules’, ‘units’ or ‘parts’ that shouldbe realized in a specific hardware.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the disclosure will be described in detailwith reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in theart can easily carry out the disclosure. However, the disclosure may beembodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodimentsdescribed herein. In order to clearly illustrate the disclosure in thedrawings, some of the elements that are not essential to the completeunderstanding of the disclosure are omitted for sharpness, and likereference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

Further, in the embodiment of the disclosure, the display module may bea single independent display panel, or a plurality of display modulesmay be combined to realize one display panel. When one display module isused as one display panel, the display module has the same meaning asthe display panel.

Hereinafter, the disclosure will be described in greater detail withreference to drawings attached herein.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are views to explain a problem of an ESD protectioncircuit of a conventional display panel.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a display panel may include a backplane 11 thattransmits an electrical signal to an element emitting an optical signal,i.e. a light emitting element.

Examples of the conventional backplanes used in display panels that havebeen mass-produced include a-Si thin film transistor (TFT), LowTemperature Poly Silicon (LTPS) TFT, and an oxide TFT.

For example, a backplane used in an active matrix type display panelusing a thin film transistor may have very high static electricity dueto a potential difference between a scan line and a data line during amanufacturing process.

Therefore, the above-described various TFT backplanes may include an ESDprotection circuit for protecting pixel circuits from staticelectricity. Generally, the ESD protection circuit may be disposed in anarea of a backplane corresponding to a bezel area 12 of a display panel.

The position of the conventional ESD protection circuit is as shown inFIG. 1B.

The display panel may be configured such that a plurality of pixelcircuits 19-1 to 19-n are arranged in a matrix formation. The pluralityof pixel circuits 19-1 to 19-n may be connected to a power supply line(VDD) 14, a data line 15, a scan line 16, and a ground line (VSS) 17.

A voltage necessary for driving a scan driver (not shown), and a datadriver (not shown) included in a driver and a voltage necessary fordriving the pixel circuits 19-1 to 19-n may be output through the powersupply line 14. The scan driver may apply a scan signal to a displaypanel through the scan line 16, and the data driver may apply a datasignal to a display panel through the data line 15.

The display panel may have a structure comprising signal lines includingthe data line 15 arranged in a first direction, and the scan line 16arranged in a second direction crossing the first direction, powersource lines including the power supply line (VDD) 14 and the groundline (VSS) 17, and the pixel circuits 19-1 to 19-n in a pixel area wherethe data line 15 intersects the scan line 16.

Referring to FIG. 1B, the ESD protection circuit 13 may be connected tothe power supply line 14, the data line 15, the scan line 16, and theground line 17 connected to the plurality of pixel circuit 19-1 to 19-ina bezel area outside the plurality of pixel circuits 19-1 to 19-n. TheESD protection circuit 13 may include two TFTs for bypassing staticelectricity flowing through the data line 15 and the power supply line14 to the ground line 17. Through the two TFTs and a floating bar 18,lines connected to the plurality of pixel circuits 19-1 to 19-n, andwires constituting the plurality of pixel circuits 19-1 to 19-n may haveequal potentials, thereby preventing the occurrence of staticelectricity.

However, the conventional ESD protection circuit has been a block forrealizing a bezel-less display panel since it is disposed in a bezelarea outside the plurality of pixel circuits. In addition, when the ESDprotection circuit is removed for realizing a bezel-less display panel,a large amount of static electricity may occur during a process of glassscribing, grinding, etc., and a short circuit phenomenon may occur inthe unprotected TFT backplane circuit by a leakage of electricity.

FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view of a conventional display panel. Asshown in FIG. 1C, a conventional display panel may have a structure inwhich a TFT layer 22, an ESD protection circuit 13, and a pad are formedon a substrate 21.

The conventional display panel includes a pixel circuit areacorresponding to the TFT layer 22 in which the pixel circuits 19-1 to19-n described in FIG. 1B are disposed, and a bezel area in which apixel circuit is not disposed, and the ESD protection circuit 13 may bedisposed in the bezel area.

FIG. 2A is a schematic block diagram illustrating configuration of adisplay module according to an embodiment.

A display apparatus may be an apparatus for converting an electricalsignal into an optical signal that can be perceived by the naked eye,including a display module 100 for displaying an image in such a manner.

According to the disclosure, an implementation method of the displaymodule 100 is not particularly limited. For example, the display module100 may be embodied as various types of display modules such as a liquidcrystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), an activematrix (AM)-OLED, an inorganic light emitting diode, a plasma displaypanel (PDP), and the like.

For the display module 100, a light emitting element may constitute apixel or a sub-pixel depending on its implementation method, oradditional constituent elements may be further included.

For example, in the case of the OLED or inorganic LED type displaymodule 100, the OLED or the inorganic LED of red (R), green (G), andblue (B) colors, which are light emitting elements, may constitutepixels or sub-pixels of the display module 100. In addition, when thedisplay module 100 is a liquid crystal type, the display module 100 mayfurther include a single color backlight unit (not shown) for supplyinglight to the liquid crystal. The display module 100 according to anembodiment of the disclosure may include a plurality of pixel circuits110-1 to 110-n constituting each pixel included in the display module100, a driver 120 and an ESD protection circuit (not shown) included inat least one of the plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n.

The plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n may be arranged in amatrix form, and each of the plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-nmay be driven to emit light of a gray scale corresponding to a gray datavoltage (e.g., pulse amplitude modulation (PAM)) to which the displaymodule 100 is applied or a pulse width modulation (PWM) data voltage.

The driver 120 may drive the plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-nand control a light emitting operation of each pixel included in thedisplay module 100.

The driver 120 may include various types of driving circuits for drivingthe plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n such as a data driver (ora source driver), a scan driver (or a gate driver), and the like.

For the display module 100 of the OLED or the inorganic LED type, theOLED or the inorganic LED of R, G, and B may be mounted on the pluralityof pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n to constitute a pixel or a sub-pixel ofthe display module 100.

The display module 100 of the LCD type may further include a backlightunit for providing single color light, and a color filter or a crystalliquid may be disposed on the plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-nto constitute the display module 100.

The power source supplier (not shown) may output a voltage necessary fordriving the plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n according to thedriving control of the driver 120.

As illustrated in FIG. 2B, the ESD protection circuit may be included inat least one of the plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n and mayprotect the pixel circuit from ESD. The ESD protection circuit may beembodied as an ESD protection circuit of a first type including two thinfilm transistors (TFTs) for bypassing the static electricity flowingthrough the data line or the power supply line of the pixel circuit tothe ground line.

The ESD protection circuit may be embodied as an ESD protection circuitof a second type including a transistor to allow the scan line, the dataline, the power supply line and the ground line of the pixel circuit tohave equal potentials due to a capacitive coupling effect.

The detailed configuration of the ESD protection circuit will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIG. 3.

FIG. 2A shows an example in which the driver 120 is included in thedisplay module 100, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. Thedriver 120 may not be included in the display module 100, but may beadditionally provided.

FIG. 2B is a schematic block diagram illustrating configuration of adisplay module of the inorganic LED type according to an embodiment ofthe disclosure. According to FIG. 2B, a display module 200 may includean inorganic light emitting element 130 and a pixel circuit 110.

For ease of explanation, FIG. 2B illustrates the configuration relatingto one pixel included in the display module 200. However, the displaymodule 200 may include a plurality of pixels, and each pixel(specifically, each sub-pixel) may include an inorganic light emittingelement 130 and a pixel circuit 110, and thus the display module 200 mayinclude the inorganic light emitting element 130 and a plurality ofpixel circuits 110 corresponding to the inorganic light emitting element130.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the ESD protection circuit140 may be arranged in at least one of the plurality of pixel circuits110-1 to 110-n. Therefore, some of the plurality of pixel circuits 110-1to 110-n may include the ESD protection circuit 140 and some may notinclude the ESD protection circuit 140. Therefore, the ESD protectioncircuit 140 are shown in dotted line in FIG. 2B.

The inorganic light emitting element 130 may constitute a pixel(specifically, a sub-pixel) of the display module 200, and emit lightaccording to the driving of the pixel circuit 110.

The inorganic light emitting element 130 may have various typesdepending on the color of emitted light. For example, the inorganiclight emitting element 130 may include a red (R) light emitting elementfor emitting light of a red color, a green (G) light emitting elementfor emitting light of a green color, and a blue (B) light emittingelement for emitting light of a blue color.

The type of sub-pixel constituting one pixel of the display module 200may be identified based on the type of inorganic light emitting element130. In other words, the R light emitting element may constitute an Rsub-pixel, the G light emitting element may constitute a G sub-pixel,and the B light emitting element may constitute a B sub-pixel.

The inorganic light emitting element 130 may be a light emitting elementformed of an inorganic material, which is different from an OrganicLight Emitting Diode (OLED) formed of an organic material.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the inorganic lightemitting element may be a micro light emitting diode (LED). The microLED may be a ultra-mini inorganic light emitting element with a size ofless than 100 μm that emits light by itself without a backlight and acolor filter.

The pixel circuit 110 may drive the inorganic light emitting element130. To be specific, when a grayscale data voltage is applied, the pixelcircuit 110 may provide a driving current corresponding to the appliedgrayscale data voltage and drive the inorganic light emitting element130.

To be specific, according to an embodiment, the pixel circuit 110 maydrive the inorganic light emitting element 130 through pulse amplitudemodulation (PAM) and/or pulse width modulation (PWM). The pixel circuit110 may control an amplitude and/or a pulse width of a driving currentthat drives the inorganic light emitting element 130 according to theapplied grayscale data voltage, and provide the driving current of whichthe amplitude and/or the pulse width is controlled to the inorganiclight emitting element 130.

The pixel circuit 110 may be provided in each inorganic light emittingelement 130, and unlike a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel that uses alight emitting element with a single color as a backlight, may drive theinorganic light emitting element 130 and exhibit a grayscale in a unitof a sub-pixel.

The ESD protection circuit 140 may be included in the pixel circuit 110.According to an embodiment, the ESD protection circuit 140 may beincluded or arranged in the pixel circuit 110 (or the pixel circuit 110area), and thus unlike a conventional display panel having an ESDprotection circuit in a separate bezel area 12, a complete bezel-lesspanel may be constructed. Particularly, the micro LED may be mostsuitable for constructing a bezel-less module or a bezel-less panel dueto its small size, but the disclosure is not limited thereto.

FIG. 2C is a view illustrating a pixel structure of a display moduleaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2C, adisplay module 300 may include a plurality of pixel areas 310-1 to 310-narranged in a matrix form. The plurality of pixel areas 310-1 to 310-nmay be arranged in an entire area of the display module 300 including anedge area at a predetermined interval (m).

Each of the plurality of pixel areas 310-1 to 310-n may include a pixelcircuit corresponding thereto. Therefore, the pixel area may be referredto as a pixel circuit area. Referring to an embodiment of FIG. 2C, onepixel area may include three inorganic light emitting elements 130-1 to130-3 such as red (R), green (G) and blue (B). Therefore, each pixelarea may include three pixel circuits respectively corresponding tothree inorganic light emitting elements R, G and B.

However, the disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the displaymodule may include a plurality of sub-pixel areas arranged in a matrixformat, and in this case, each sub-pixel area may include one inorganiclight emitting element and one pixel circuit corresponding thereto.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the ESD protection circuit140 may be arranged in a pixel circuit. Referring to FIG. 2C, thedisplay module 300 may not include a bezel area unlike the display panelin FIG. 1B.

Therefore, ESD protection circuit 140 may be arranged, for example, in apixel circuit in various positions of the plurality of pixel areas 310-1to 310-n as shown in FIG. 2C.

To be specific, the ESD protection circuit 140 may be arranged in apixel circuit included in one pixel area 310-1, or in pixel circuitsincluded in two pixel areas 310-2 and 310-3 according to an embodiment.

The ESD protection circuit 140 may be arranged in at least one pixelcircuit of pixel circuits included in a pixel area disposed in an edgearea (or an outer area) of the display module 300, but is not limitedthereto. As shown in FIG. 2C, the ESD protection circuit 140 may bearranged in the pixel circuits included in pixel areas 310-5, 310-6,310-8 and 310-9 at an internal portion of the display module 300 ratherthan on an outside edge of the display module 300.

Referring to FIG. 2C, the inorganic light emitting elements 130-1 to130-3 may be micro LEDs. In this case, the micro LED may have a verysmall size. Therefore, the display module 300 may be formed such that adistance (1) between pixel areas from a scribe line to a first line maybe smaller than a distance (m) between the pixel areas 310-1 to 310-n.

Therefore, according to an embodiment, a display module capable of ESDprotection without a bezel area may be provided.

Referring to FIG. 2C, R, G and B sub-pixels may be arranged in a leftand right reversed L shape. However, the disclosure is not limitedthereto, and the R, G and B sub-pixels may be arranged in a line in apixel area. However, such arrangement form of sub-pixels is merelydescriptive, and a plurality of sub-pixels may be arranged in variousforms in each pixel.

According to the above-described example, it is described that one pixelconsists of three types of sub-pixels, but is not limited thereto. Forexample, a pixel may consist of four types of sub-pixel such as R, G, Band white (W), and according to an embodiment, the number of sub-pixelsto form one pixel is not limited.

FIG. 2D is a cross-sectional view illustrating a display moduleaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure. For ease of explanation,FIG. 2D illustrates one pixel included in the display module 400.

Referring to FIG. 2D, a display module 400 may include a thin filmtransistor (TFT) layer 170 formed on a substrate 190 and inorganic lightemitting elements 130-1 to 130-3 mounted on the TFT layer 170.

The TFT layer 170 may be formed on an entire area of the substrate 190,and the plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n may be formed on theTFT layer 170 in a matrix form. The plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to110-n may be arranged in an entire area of the substrate 190 includingan edge area at a predetermined interval.

Although not explicitly shown, on the TFT layer 170, a pixel circuit 110for driving each of the inorganic light emitting elements 130-1 to 130-3may be provided for each of the inorganic light emitting elements 130-1to 130-3. Therefore, each of the inorganic light emitting elements R, Gand B 130-1 to 130-3 may be mounted or arranged on the pixel circuit 110to be electrically connected to the pixel circuit 110 correspondingthereto.

Referring to FIG. 2D, the R light emitting element 130-1 may be mountedor arranged so that an anode electrode 1 and a cathode electrode 2 ofthe R light emitting element 130-1 may be respectively connected to ananode electrode 3 and a cathode electrode 4 formed on the pixel circuit110 corresponding to the R light emitting element 130-1, and the G lightemitting element 130-2 and the B light emitting element 130-3 may bemounted or arranged in the same manner. According to an embodiment, oneof the anode electrode 3 and the cathode electrode 4 may be embodied asa common electrode.

Unlike a conventional technique of FIG. 1C, the display module 400 ofFIG. 2D may have a pixel circuit area, but may not have a bezel area.Therefore, according to an embodiment, the ESD protection circuit 140and a pad 180 may be formed in the TFT layer 170.

The pad 180 may transmit signals transmitted from the driver (not shown)or the power source supplier (not shown) to the pixel circuits includedin the TFT layer 170.

The substrate 190 may be formed of various materials. For example, thesubstrate 190 may be formed of glass or synthetic resin. In the exampleof FIG. 2D, the substrate 190 may be a flat substrate. In this case, thesubstrate 190 may be formed of a hard material rather than a flexiblematerial.

Referring to FIG. 2D, a micro LED of flip chip type is exemplified asinorganic light emitting elements 130-1 to 130-3. However, thedisclosure is not limited thereto, and the inorganic light emittingelements 130-1 to 130-3 may be a micro LED of lateral type or verticaltype.

FIG. 2E is an exemplary view showing that a display panel may beconfigured with a plurality of display modules of FIG. 2D.

According to an embodiment, a display module 100, 200, 300 and 400 mayconstitute a display panel. In addition, according to anotherembodiment, a single display panel may be embodied with a consecutivearrangement of a plurality of display modules. FIG. 2E illustrates anexample embodiment in which a display module 400 is arranged.

As described above, the display module 400 may not have a bezel area,particularly, when the inorganic light emitting element is a micro LED,the size thereof may be very small. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2E, thedisplay module may be arranged or combined so that a length (a) betweenthe inorganic light emitting element 130-3 closest to a scribe line of adisplay module 400-1 and an inorganic light emitting element 130-1′closest to a scribe line of a display module 400-2 may be identical to alength (a) between the inorganic light emitting elements 130-1 to 130-3,and 130-1′ to 130-3′ of the display modules 400-1 and 400-2. Here, the“identical” includes the case where there is a certain margin of errors(e.g., less than 30%).

Therefore, according to an embodiment, even when one display panel isconfigured with the combination of the plurality of display modules400-1 and 400-2, a display panel can provide a complete seamless imagewithout a phenomenon in which an image is cut off at the boundary wherethe display modules are combined.

According to various embodiments of the disclosure, the term‘bezel-less’ encompasses the case where a bezel exists during a processof manufacturing a display panel but is removed after the process. Suchexample embodiment will be described through FIGS. 2F and 2G.

A display module 600 of FIG. 2F may be similar to the display module 400of FIG. 2D in that the ESD protection circuit 140 and the pad 180 arearranged in the TFT layer 170, but the arrangement positions may bedifferent. In other words, unlike the display module 400 of FIG. 2D, inthe display module 600 of FIG. 2F, a pixel circuit for driving theinorganic light emitting elements 130-1 to 130-3 may not be arranged ina certain area of the TFT layer 170 based on a scribe line, and theinorganic light emitting elements 130-1 to 130-3 may not be mounted inthat area.

In the example of FIG. 2F, a substrate 190′ of the display module 600may be formed of a flexible material.

In this case, a display panel without a bezel area may be embodied bybending and fixing the outer area of the display module 600 in thedirection of the substrate 190′.

FIG. 2G illustrates an example embodiment in which a plurality ofdisplay modules 600 of FIG. 2F are combined to form a display panel. Asshown in FIG. 2G, the display module 600-1 and 600-2 may be bent in thedirection of the substrate 190′ to be coupled to each other, and adisplay panel can provide a complete seamless image without a phenomenonin which an image is cut off at the boundary where the display modulesare combined.

Although not shown, when a single display panel is formed by using onedisplay module 600, a bezel-less display may be embodied by bending andfixing each outer area of the display module 600 in the direction of thesubstrate 190′.

FIG. 2H is an exemplary view illustrating a display panel in which aplurality of display modules are connected. According to an embodimentof the disclosure, as shown in FIG. 2H, nine of display modules 100-1 to100-9 may be consecutively disposed to form one bezel-less display panel800.

FIG. 2H shows an example in which the display module 100 has anarrangement of 3×3, but is not limited thereto. The number and formationof display modules are not limited to form a bezel-less display panel.

The other display modules 200, 300, 400 and 600 described above may beformed in the same manner.

FIG. 2I is a view illustrating a connection relationship of an ESDprotection circuit according to an embodiment. The ESD protectioncircuit 140-3 shown in the example of FIG. 2I may be an ESD protectioncircuit included in a p-type LTPS backplane.

In the backplane constituting the display modules 100, 200, 300, 400 and600, a driving voltage (VDD) wiring line 51 for driving each pixelcircuit, a ground (VSS) voltage wiring line 53, and various swingvoltage (data, clock, scan signals, etc.) wiring lines 52 may beprovided in each pixel circuit. For ease of illustration, FIG. 2Iillustrates only one swing voltage wiring line 52, but it could beeasily understood that an additional wiring line may be provided foreach type of swing voltage.

Referring to FIG. 2I, an ESD protection circuit 140-3 may include afirst-type metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (PMOSFET)54 in which a gate terminal and a source terminal area connected to adriving voltage wiring line 51, and a drain terminal is connected to aswing voltage wiring line 52, and a second PMOSFET 55 in which a gateterminal and a source terminal are connected to the swing voltage wiringline 52 and a drain terminal is connected to the ground voltage wiringline 53.

The ESD protection circuit 140-3 may be included in at least one pixelcircuit among a plurality of pixel circuits constituting the displaymodules 100, 200, 300, 400 and 600.

However, the type and connection relationship of the ESD protectioncircuit 140 is not limited to FIG. 2I. Hereinafter, the detailedconfiguration of an ESD protection circuit according to variousembodiments of the disclosure will be described. The detailed connectionmanner of the ESD protection circuit will be shown with reference toFIGS. 3 to 5. The connection method of the ESD protection circuit is notlimited to FIGS. 3 to 5.

Referring to FIG. 3, an ESD protection circuit 140-1 may be connected toa power supply line 31, a data line 32, a scan line 33, and a groundline 34 in the pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n. Referring to FIG. 3, theESD protection circuit 140-1 may be embodied as the ESD protectioncircuit of a first type.

One end of the ESD protection circuit of first type 140-1 may beconnected to the data line 32 or the scan line 33, and the other end maybe connected to the ground line 34.

To be specific, two TFTs included in the ESD protection circuit of firsttype 140-1 may have a source terminal connected to the floating bar 35,and a drain terminal connected to one of the power supply line 31, thedata line 32, the scan line 33, and the ground line 34. The gateterminal of the TFT may be connected to the floating bar 35, or one ofthe power supply line 31, the data line 32, the scan line 33 and theground line 34.

Accordingly, the static electricity generated by the display module 100,200, 300, 400, and 600 may be emitted to the outside of the displaymodule 100, 200, 300, 400, and 600 through the ground line 34 connectedto the other end of the first ESD protection circuit 140-1.

As described above, the first ESD protection circuit 140-1 may bearranged in the pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n in the same manner.

However, a DC high voltage instead of a swing voltage may be applied tothe power supply line 31 and the data line 32, which are used in amicro-LED display, and thus, a large amount of leakage currents mayoccur when the ESD protection circuit of the first type 140-1 is used.

Therefore, referring to FIG. 4, an ESD protection circuit of a secondtype 140-2 including a transistor that allows the power supply line 31,the data line 32, the scan line 33, and the ground line 34 to have equalpotentials by the capacitive coupling effect may be connected to thepower supply line 31 to which the DC high voltage is applied.

The transistor may be embodied as a floating gate type TFT, and bothends of the TFT may be connected to the power supply line 31 and thefloating bar 35, respectively. When an electrostatic voltage is appliedto the floating bar 35, the electrostatic voltage may be transmitted toall wires connected to the plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n bythe capacitive coupling effect to allow all the wires in the TFTbackplane to maintain the equal potential.

However, referring to FIG. 5, all ESD protection circuits included inthe plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to 110-n may be embodied as theESD protection circuit of the second type 140-2. In other words, the ESDprotection circuit included in the plurality of pixel circuits 110-1 to110-n may be embodied either as the ESD protection circuit of the firsttype 140-1 or the ESD protection circuit of the second type 140-2.

The ESD protection circuit 140 may be arranged in a unit of a pixelcircuit of a predetermined number in the display module 100 and 200.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating configuration of an ESDprotection unit of a display module or a display panel according to anembodiment.

A display module 900 according to an embodiment may have a structure inwhich a plurality of ESD protection units 90-1 to 90-n having apredetermined number of pixel circuits as one unit are repeatedlyconnected and arranged, and each of the plurality of ESD protectionunits 90-1 to 90-n may include at least one ESD protection circuit 140.

For example, each of the plurality of ESD protection units 90-1 to 90-nmay include pixel circuits constituting a pixel of 190×120, and at leastone ESD protection circuit 140 may be included in each of the pixelcircuits. When the display module 900 has a resolution of 1900×1200, thedisplay module 900 may therefore include 10 (ten) ESD protection units.

Referring to FIG. 7, the ESD protection circuits 140-1 and 140-2 may beconnected only to the power supply line 31, the data line 32, the scanline 33, and the ground line 34 of the first pixel circuit 110-1 of theplurality of pixel circuits included in the ESD protection circuit 90-1.In other words, all the pixel circuits included in the ESD protectionunit 90-1 may share the ESD protection circuits 140-1 and 140-2connected to the first pixel circuit 110-1.

Referring to FIG. 8, the ESD protection circuits 140-1 and 140-2 may berespectively arranged in the first pixel circuit 110-1 and the secondpixel circuit 110-2 in the ESD protection unit 90-1.

In this case, all the pixel circuits included in the ESD protection unit90-1 may share the ESD protection circuit 140-1 connected to the firstpixel circuit 110-1 and the ESD protection circuit 140-2 connected tothe second pixel circuit 110-2.

However, the disclosure is not limited to FIGS. 7 and 8.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating configuration of a displayapparatus including a display panel according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9, a display apparatus 1000 according to an embodimentmay include a display panel 1700, a broadcasting receiver 1200, a signalseparator 1250, an A/V processor 1300, an audio output unit 1350, astorage 1400, a communicator 1450, a controller 1500, a processor 1600,and an image signal provider 1650.

The broadcasting receiver 1200 may receive broadcasting by wire orwirelessly from a broadcasting station or satellite and demodulate thebroadcasting. To be specific, the broadcasting receiver 1200 may receivea transport stream through an antenna or a cable, demodulate thetransport stream, and output a digital transport stream signal(specifically, a clock signal (TS_CLK), a sync signal (TS_SYNC), a validsignal (TS_VALID), and 8 data signals (TS_DATA[7:0])). In addition, thebroadcasting receiver 1200 may receive broadcasting signals from anexternal device (e.g., a set-top box).

The signal separator 1250 may separate the transport stream signalsprovided from the broadcasting receiver 1200 into an image signal, anaudio signal, and an additional information signal. The signal separator1250 may transmit image signals and audio signals to the A/V processor1300.

The A/V processor 1300 may perform signal processing such as videodecoding, video scaling, audio decoding, or the like on image signalsand audio signals input from the broadcasting receiver 1200 and thestorage 1400. The A/V processor 1300 may output image signals to theimage signal provider 1650, and audio signals to the audio output unit1350.

When the received images and audio signals are stored in the storage1400, the A/V processor 1300 may output images and videos to the storage1400 in a compressed form.

The audio output unit 1350 may convert audio signals output from the A/Vprocessor 1300 into sound and output the sound through a speaker (notshown), or output the sound to an external device connected through anexternal output terminal (not shown).

The image signal provider 1650 may generate a graphic user interface(GUI) for providing to a user. The image signal provider 1650 may addthe generated GUI to the image output from the A/V processor 1300. Theimage signal provider 1650 may provide an image signal corresponding tothe image to which the GUI is added to the display module 100.Accordingly, the display module 100 may display various informationprovided by the display apparatus 1000 and the image transmitted fromthe image signal provider 1650.

The image signal provider 1650 may extract bright informationcorresponding to the image signal, and generate a dimming signalcorresponding to the extracted brightness information. The image signalprovider 1650 may provide the generated dimming signal to the displaypanel 1700. The dimming signal may be a PWM signal. According to anembodiment, a dimming signal may be provided from the image signalprovider 1650 and provided to the display panel 1700, but at the time ofimplementation, the display panel 1700 that receives an image signal maygenerate a dimming signal by itself for use.

The display panel 1700 may display an image. The display panel 1700 maybe implemented as various types of displays such as a light emittingdiode (LED), a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emittingdiode (OLED) display, and a plasma display panel (PDP). The displaypanel 1700 may further include a driving circuit, which may beimplemented in the form of an a-Si TFT, a low temperature poly silicon(LTPS) TFT, an organic TFT (OTFT), etc., a backlight unit, and the like.Meanwhile, the display panel 1700 may be implemented as a touch screenin combination with a touch sensing unit.

When the display panel 1700 is embodied as an LCD panel that transmitslight emitted from a backlight through an LCD or displays a grayscale byadjusting the degree of transmission, the display panel 1700 may receivepower necessary for the backlight through the power source supplier (notshown), and transmit the light emitted from the backlight through theLCD. The display panel 1700 may receive power to be used for a pixelelectrode or a common electrode from the power source supplier (notshown), and control each LCD according to an image signal received fromthe image signal provider 1650 to display an image.

The backlight may emit light to the LCD, and may be embodied with a coldcathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) and/or a light emitting diode (LED).Hereinafter, the backlight will be illustrated as including a lightemitting diode and a light emitting diode driving circuit, but at thetime of implementation, the backlight may be implemented with otherconfigurations than the LED.

When the LED is used, the backlight may include an LED driver fordriving the LED. The LED driver may be configured to provide a constantcurrent corresponding to a brightness value to the LED so that thebacklight may operate with the brightness corresponding to dimminginformation provided from the image signal provider 1650. The LED drivermay not provide a constant current to the LED depending on a dimmingsignal.

In the case of the LED or OLED display panel 1700, the display panel1700 may display an image corresponding to an image signal provided fromthe image signal provider 1650 and a driving power source supplied fromthe power source supplier. The display panel 1700 may include aplurality of pixels including an inorganic light emitting diode or anorganic light emitting diode.

The inorganic light emitting diode may be a light emitting elementfabricated by using an inorganic material, which is distinguished fromthe LED and OLED in this specification. To be specific, the inorganiclight emitting diode may include a micro LED (micro LED). The micro LEDmay be a kind of inorganic light emitting element and refers to aminiaturized inorganic light emitting element having a size of 100micrometers (μm) or less that emits light without a backlight or a colorfilter.

When the display panel 1700 is embodied as an inorganic light emittingdiode, the display module 200, 300, 400, 600 and 900 or the displaypanel 500, 700 and 800 may be the display panel 1700.

An organic light emitting diode (OLED) may be a light emitting elementmanufactured by using a ‘self-emitting organic material’ that emitslight by using an electroluminescent phenomenon that emits light when acurrent flows through a fluorescent organic compound.

The storage 1400 may store image contents. To be specific, the storage1400 may receive video and image compressed image contents from the A/Vprocessor 1300, store the image contents, and output the stored imagecontents to the A/V processor 1300 under the control of the processor1600. The storage 1400 may be embodied with a hard disk, a non-volatilememory, a volatile memory, etc.

The controller 1500 may be embodied as a touch screen, a touch pad, akey button, etc. and provide a user operation of the display apparatus1000. It has been exemplified that a control command is received throughthe controller 1500 provided in the display apparatus 1000, but thecontroller 1500 may receive a user operation from an external controldevice (e.g., a remote controller).

The communicator 1450 may perform communication with various types ofexternal devices according to various types of communication methods.The communicator 1450 may include a Wi-Fi chip, a Bluetooth chip, etc.The processor 1600 may perform communication with various externaldevices through the communicator 1450. The communicator 1450 may performcommunication with an external electronic device.

Although not shown in FIG. 9, the communicator 1450 may include a USBport to which a USB connector is connected, various external input portsfor connecting to various external terminals such as a headset, a mouse,and a LAN, etc., a DMB chip for receiving and processing a digitalmultimedia broadcasting (DMB) signal, and the like.

The display apparatus 1000 may further include a power source supplier(not shown) and a sensing unit (not shown). The power source suppliermay supply power to each constituent element of the display apparatus1000. The power source supplier may generate a plurality of drivingpower sources having different potentials, and feedback control thevoltage value of one driving power source.

The sensing unit may include a sensor for obtaining various sensinginformation. The sensing unit may include a color sensor for obtaininginformation on a color temperature in a background area near the displayapparatus 1000. The sensing unit may include various sensing devicessuch as a camera, a movement sensor, etc.

The processor 1600 may control the overall operation of the displayapparatus 1000. The processor 1600 may control the image signal provider1650, and the display module 100 so that an image according to a controlcommand received through the controller 1500 may be displayed. Referringto FIG. 9, the processor 1600 may include CPU, GPU, ROM and RAM.

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating a bezel-less display panel according toan embodiment of the disclosure.

The bezel-less display modules capable of ESD protection 100, 200, 300,400, 600 and 900 may be embodied by having the ESD protection circuitdisposed in the pixel circuit area of the display module 100 accordingto the above-described various embodiments. Therefore, multipleinstances of a display panel 2000 shown on the bottom of FIG. 10 may beformed together by connecting a plurality of bezel-less display modules2000-1 to 2000-4 in a modular type as shown at the top of FIG. 10. Inthis case, visibility may not be deteriorated due the presence of thebezel area.

The display panel 100 according to various embodiments of the disclosuremay be more effectively used for the case where an inorganic lightemitting element including micro-LED constitutes a sub-pixel, but anexample embodiment is not limited thereto. As described above, thedisplay panel 100 may be efficiently applied to the OLED or LCD typedisplay panel.

Although embodiments have been shown and described, it will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made tothese embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit ofthe disclosure. Accordingly, the scope of the disclosure is notconstrued as being limited to the described embodiments, but is definedby the appended claims as well as equivalents thereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display module comprising: a substrate; a thinfilm transistor (TFT) layer formed on the substrate; and a plurality ofpixels disposed on the TFT layer, wherein each pixel of the plurality ofpixels comprises at least three inorganic light emitting elements,wherein the TFT layer comprises: a plurality of electro-static discharge(ESD) protection circuits; and a plurality of pixel circuits configuredto drive the at least three inorganic light emitting elements for eachpixel, wherein each ESD protection circuit of the plurality of ESDprotection circuits is surrounded by a plurality of adjacent pixelsamong the plurality of pixels, wherein the plurality of adjacent pixelsare arranged at a predetermined interval in a matrix array, and whereineach inorganic light emitting element of the at least three inorganiclight emitting elements is mounted on and electrically connected to acorresponding pixel circuit among the plurality of pixel circuits. 2.The display module as claimed in claim 1, wherein each ESD protectioncircuit of the plurality of ESD protection circuits is located at acenter of the plurality of adjacent pixels.
 3. The display module asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of pixels are arranged in aplurality of pixel lines, the plurality of pixel lines comprising aplurality of outermost pixel lines, and wherein the plurality of ESDprotection circuits are disposed in the TFT layer such that none of theplurality of adjacent pixels is located in any outermost pixel line ofthe plurality of outermost pixel lines.
 4. The display module as claimedin claim 1, wherein the plurality of pixels of the display module arearranged in an entire area of the substrate at the predeterminedinterval.
 5. The display module as claimed in claim 1, wherein a firstarea of the TFT layer where each ESD protection circuit of the pluralityof ESD protection circuits is disposed is different from a second areaof the TFT layer where each pixel circuit of the plurality of pixelcircuits is disposed.
 6. The display module as claimed in claim 1,wherein a number of the plurality of ESD protection circuits included inthe display module is less than a number of the plurality of pixels ofthe display module.
 7. The display module as claimed in claim 1, whereinthe plurality of pixels are arranged in a plurality of pixel lines, andpixels of the plurality of pixels that are disposed in an outermostpixel line among the plurality of pixel lines are spaced from an edge ofthe substrate by a distance equal to or less than the predeterminedinterval.
 8. The display module as claimed in claim 1, wherein each ESDprotection circuit among the plurality of ESD protection circuits isconnected to at least one among a scan line, a data line, a power supplyline, and a ground line for driving the plurality of pixel circuits. 9.The display module as claimed in claim 8, wherein each ESD protectioncircuit of the plurality of ESD protection circuits comprises a firsttype ESD protection circuit comprising two TFTs configured to bypassstatic electricity flowing through the data line or the power supplyline to the ground line.
 10. The display module as claimed in claim 8,wherein each ESD protection circuit of the plurality of ESD protectioncircuits comprises a second type ESD protection circuit comprising atransistor configured to cause the scan line, the data line, the powersupply line, and the ground line to have equal voltages by a capacitivecoupling effect.
 11. The display module as claimed in claim 8, whereinthe scan line, the data line, and the ground line are connected to afirst type ESD protection circuit comprising two TFTs configured tobypass static electricity flowing through the data line to the groundline, and wherein the power supply line is connected to a second typeESD protection circuit comprising a transistor configured to cause thescan line, the data line, the power supply line, and the ground line tohave equal voltages by a capacitive coupling effect.
 12. A display panelcomprising a plurality of display modules that are consecutivelyarranged, each display module of the plurality of display modulescomprising: a substrate; a thin film transistor (TFT) layer formed onthe substrate; and a plurality of pixels disposed on the TFT layer;wherein each pixel of the plurality of pixels comprises at least threeinorganic light emitting elements, wherein the TFT layer comprises: aplurality of electro-static discharge (ESD) protection circuits, and aplurality of pixel circuits configured to drive the at least threeinorganic light emitting elements for each pixel, wherein each ESDprotection circuit of the plurality of ESD protection circuits issurrounded by a plurality of adjacent pixels among the plurality ofpixels, wherein the plurality of adjacent pixels are arranged at apredetermined interval in a matrix array, and wherein each inorganiclight emitting element of the at least three inorganic light emittingelements is mounted on and electrically connected to a correspondingpixel circuit among the plurality of pixel circuits.
 13. The displaypanel as claimed in claim 12, wherein a distance between pixels of theplurality of pixels that are arranged in a border region between a firstdisplay module and a second display module adjacent to the first displaymodule among the plurality of display modules is equal to thepredetermined interval.
 14. The display panel as claimed in claim 12,wherein each ESD protection circuit of the plurality of ESD protectioncircuits is located at a center of the plurality of adjacent pixels. 15.The display panel as claimed in claim 12, wherein the plurality ofpixels are arranged in a plurality of pixel lines, the plurality ofpixel lines comprising a plurality of outermost pixel lines, and whereinthe plurality of ESD protection circuits are disposed in the TFT layersuch that none of the plurality of adjacent pixels is located in anyoutermost pixel line of the plurality of outermost pixel lines.
 16. Thedisplay panel as claimed in claim 12, wherein the plurality of pixelsare arranged in an entire area of the substrate at the predeterminedinterval.
 17. The display panel as claimed in claim 12, wherein a firstarea of the TFT layer where each ESD protection circuit of the pluralityof ESD protection circuits is disposed is different from a second areaof the TFT layer where each pixel circuit of the plurality of pixelcircuits is disposed.
 18. The display panel as claimed in claim 12,wherein a number of the plurality of ESD protection circuits included ineach display module of the plurality of display modules is less than anumber of the plurality of pixels of each display module of theplurality of display modules.
 19. The display panel as claimed in claim12, wherein the plurality of pixels are arranged in a plurality of pixellines, and pixels of the plurality of pixel lines that are disposed inan outermost pixel line among the plurality of pixel lines are spacedfrom an edge of the substrate by a distance equal to about ½ of thepredetermined interval.
 20. The display panel as claimed in claim 12,wherein each ESD protection circuit among the plurality of ESDprotection circuits is connected to at least one among a scan line, adata line, a power supply line, and a ground line for driving theplurality of pixel circuits.